


Companion.

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, silly things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-03
Updated: 2012-08-03
Packaged: 2017-11-11 08:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/476771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drabble about Tony and his throwaway scandals. (Very fun to write, by the way.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Companion.

The second Pepper walks in she throws a magazine on the table, and crosses her arms and nods at it. She’s got that thin-lipped thing going on that strikes fear in Tony’s artificial heart.

“What?”

She just nods at it again, and Tony circles the room to look at it. He tries to take it very seriously. He does. He purses his lips and nods grimly, eyebrows set in a heavy line. But the second he looks up at Pepper and she’s still standing over him with his arms crossed with that thin line of her lips he loses it, and laughs so hard it hurts his ribs.

He has to say, they got one hell of a first shot. Harsh lighting that makes him and Bruce both look red as tomatoes. Tony doesn’t know what he’s laughing at most; Bruce’s awkward duck lips he does when kissing sometimes, the fact he knows he’s squeezing Bruce’s ass out of frame, or that Tony’s loafer is in the window this picture guy must have been standing outside of and blocking half the shot. Or maybe he’s laughing hardest at the caption; THE SCANDALOUS HULK in bright red across the top.

Pepper is tapping her heel against the floor as tears streak down his face. “Are you done?”

“Not yet.” He giggles it out and takes a seat, wiping the tears off his face. He takes a few deep breaths, and Pepper rolls her eyes.

That’s about when Sleeping Beauty decides to roll out of bed. “You woke me up.” Bruce’s curls are in every which direction, and he’s rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Also, he’s naked. Pepper looks at Tony and puts her hand up like a blinder (not the first time) and Tony shrugs at her and grins. She had definitely been looking more than a second. The blinder act is just cover.

“Morning, sunshine.” Bruce glares at him and sees Pepper and balks, covers himself with his hand and turns 180 on his heels back to the bedroom.

He comes back out in sweatpants a few seconds later, and looks at his feet. He’s so cute it’s criminal, really, and Pepper pinches his knee when she catches him staring. “You going to show him?” Oh, she’s so mad. Under slightly different circumstances it would be a serious turn on. Tony hands Bruce the magazine without looking at it, lest he burst into a fit of giggles again. Bruce isn’t laughing, though.

“Tony, this is bad.” Please. This is like, a pebble being thrown into an ocean. But Bruce is red and he’s shuffling on his feet, and Tony knows he doesn’t see it that way.

Pepper puts her hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”

He laughs, and toes at the ground again. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Tony rolls his eyes and puts his arms around both of them like they’re having a little living room powwow. He could get used to having his arms around both of them, really. “Look, alright, it’s fine. For all anyone knows it’s a terrible photoshop.” Not like the magazine is exactly reputable.

“Corporate doesn’t see it that way.” Pepper’s eyebrows are raised as she looks at his face. “They want to know what your relationship is.”

Tony and Bruce look at each other, and the powwow is broken as they stand back and stroke their chins. “Well, we’re not lovers.”

Bruce nods his head in agreement. “We’re not boyfriends, either.”

“It’s just. A thing, you know?”

“I know. They’re old white male bigwigs who don’t.” Always Pepper with the reasoning. He really had to look at changing out some chairmen this year. He could let Pepper make her own board. A lot more would get done. She steps on his foot in that way that lets him know he’s staring off into space.

“Right. Well. Fuck buddies isn’t very professional, is it?”

“It’s not quite that, anyway.” Bruce sure knows when to get defensive about something. “What about… companions?”

Tony and Pepper shrug at each other. “Sounds fine.” Pepper is so good at speaking for him.

Tony throws his hands up and lets them fall down and slap against his thighs. “Well. How about breakfast? I could make omelets.”

“No,” Pepper and Bruce say together. They look at each other and laugh, and Tony watches their eyes linger on each other’s face for a second too long. He smiles as he picks up his coffee mug and opens the magazine to read the article about his latest “scandal.”


End file.
